


Girls Night Out

by emmy_beans



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Cupcakes, First Kiss, Fluff, Genderbending, I'm Bad At Tagging, M/M, POV Varian, Somewhat offensive language, creepy guy alert, dont leave these two alone, dont worry the douche gets punched, for like a few minutes, its a potion tho, jealous!hugo, jealous!varian, slight angst, they made an oopsie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:00:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25753237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmy_beans/pseuds/emmy_beans
Summary: Varian and Hugo can’t get along and it doesn’t help that Hugo avoids Varian every chance he can. But an accident at a witch’s house brings the two together via a... strange method
Relationships: Hugo & Varian (Disney: Varian and the Seven Kingdoms), Hugo/Varian (Disney: Varian and the Seven Kingdoms)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 105





	Girls Night Out

Their first mistake was splitting up.

They reached a crossroads and Varian suggested they split up. Nuru and Yong go one way, Varian and Hugo would go the other. If they found something, they’d set off a flare, provided to them by Yong. “It’s safe, don’t worry!” he insisted. 

Hugo looked like he was about to say something but Nuru elbowed him and he closed his mouth. 

He did grouch about the entire situation but had tagged along behind Varian as he led the way down the dirt path. “I wonder what we’ll find down here,” Varian said. 

“Another old barn probably. I’m so stoked to sleep in a dusty, rotting barn again. What would this be, the fourth time?”

Varian glared over his shoulder at Hugo. He was used to Hugo complaining and he’d gotten good at just tuning him out. But here, alone in a forest with him, he found it more intolerable than usual. “Would you stop complaining, Hugo? At least it’s dry and not outdoors. Remember that time we got stuck in a cave during a storm?”

“Which time? It’s like a daily occurrence for us.”

Varian sighed and shook his head. He was tempted to stick Hugo’s mouth shut but decided against it. 

Ever since Hugo joined the group, the two had been in a circle of bickering and flirting and competing. They hardly ever got a moment together that was not somewhat fueled by antagonism. In fact, they have never spent time alone together for more than a few minutes. 

Of course Varian liked Hugo as much as he could like a person who stole the first totem only to return it just a day or so later. Hugo saved Varian’s life once or twice and vice versa. It was just… they weren’t good at communicating to each other. Especially about feelings. They just never had the opportunity to talk presented to them. Varian wanted that opportunity to happen. He admitted to himself that he had a small, small crush on Hugo. He believed it’s because of Hugo’s alchemic abilities and how much he reminded Varian of Eugene or “Flynn Ryder”, Varian’s first crush ever. 

It didn’t seem like Hugo felt the same. He stayed far away from Varian and the group in general, only talked when he had something sarcastic to say and preferred to spend all his free time alone. Varian respected that he needed space but sometimes it felt like Hugo was purposely trying to avoid them. Varian in particular. Sometimes he went up to Hugo to ask him a question on alchemy or just to talk and Hugo would either insult him into leaving or ignore him.

Varian didn’t want to admit it hurt but it did. It hurt a lot. 

He shook out of his stupor. He wasn’t going to go feel sorry for himself that Hugo didn’t like him. He was used to rejection. For some reason, though, Hugo’s rejection hurt just a bit more than the other rejections he’s faced. 

“What’s that?” Hugo said suddenly.

He looked up and saw a small cottage tucked between the trees. It didn’t seem that old but it was clearly unoccupied. The grass around it was overgrown and green ivy creeped up the walls. Hugo and Varian exchanged a silent conversation between each other before they entered the house, Varian first. 

“Hello?” he called out.

“Goggles, there’s clearly no one else here.” Hugo pushed Varian farther into the house before stepping in himself.

“We can never be too careful.” Varian looked around. It seemed like a pretty normal house. A kitchen to their left, a dining room, a living room and a hallway that lead off somewhere on their right. Varian opened his mouth to suggest leaving and getting the others but Hugo was already wandering down the hallway. Varian followed. “It looks like a normal cottage, Hugo, I don’t think anything is here.”

“Well we might as well check, Goggles. Who knows, maybe there’s a totem hidden here.” Hugo turned around and rolled his eyes before continuing down the hall. Varian walked behind in a huff.

One room was locked. One was a bedroom. One was a bathroom. Hugo circled back to the locked door and picked it with ease. “Oh look. It was open all along.”

“Nice try, Hugo.” Varian passed him and entered the room only to stop short. Hugo bumped into him.

“What’s the matter, Goggles? Did someone leave their panties out?”

“Shut up and look.”

The room was like a witch’s hut. Potions were littering the shelves, materials and ingredients were scattered on the floor, the shelves not lined with potions were stocked with books and there was even a cauldron in the middle of the room. Pushed against the wall was a desk that was covered in scrolls and quills. It looked like Varian’s lab area but messier. 

Hugo whistled. “Damn. Think they’ll mind if I borrow something?”  
“Hugo!”

“What?”

“We can’t just steal someone’s things.”

“Why not? Nobody’s here. The person’s probably dead.”

“Hugo!” Varian was aghast.

“Do you want to raise the person from the dead and ask them? Be my guest, my little necromancer.” 

Varian flashed Hugo a rude gesture as the other sauntered into the room, reading the labels on potion bottles. Varian rushed up to him and yanked one out of his hands. Hugo glared at him. Varian glared back. “We cannot just steal random potions. You have no clue what they do.”

“Uh it says what it does on the bottle, Goggles. Can’t you read? Or do they not teach you that on the farm?”

Varian flushed. “Better to live on the farm than on the streets,” he snapped. 

Hugo didn’t respond. He just snatched the bottle back. “I’m taking this and you won’t stop me.” He smirked. “I bet you can’t anyway. You’re built like a child.”

“Excuse you but I’ve operated heavy machinery before by myself.”

“Heavy machinery? What did you do, lift a wrench?”

“Give me. The bottle.”

Hugo lifted his chin in a challenging defiance. “Take it.”

Normally, Varian would never attack a person. He considered himself a pacifist most of the time. But today, he was annoyed and angry. So he launched himself at Hugo, who clearly wasn’t expecting Varian to actually attack, nearly knocking them both over. They wrestled for the bottle, Hugo using his 6 inches over Varian as an advantage, Varian kicking him in the knees in retaliation.

Eventually, they were both wrestling on the ground like two little kids. Hugo finally broke free and rolled away, colliding with a shelf. Varian, not noticing the shelf starting to tilt, jumped after him and reached for the bottle again. 

“Wait! Goggles!”

“I’m not falling for any of your-“ Varian cut off as the shelf toppled over. He didn’t have time to think before he felt a body slam into his. He was pushed away as the shelf slammed into the ground right next to where the two once were.

Varian stared at Hugo in surprise. “Did you just save my life?”

Hugo turned away in embarrassment. “Princess Starmap would kill me if I let you get squished.”

“How sweet.”

Hugo moved to stand but Varian stopped him. Because right behind them, a chain reaction was going off. The shelves all must be connected because all of them were slowly toppling over like dominoes, crashing into each other and flinging potions everywhere. Varian could only watch in awe.

“Varian!”

Varian turned just as a shelf slammed to the ground, sending potions flying. Hugo moved, maybe to run, maybe to block Varian, but either way they slammed into each other as the potions smashed in front of them, splashing them with liquid.

At the same time, their heads knocked into each other, hard and Varian couldn’t get in another thought before the world went dark.

Varian woke up and immediately winced. He wasn’t sure why or how but his chest ached like a bitch. Did Hugo hit his chest with his arm or something? He rose, shakily and looked over at Hugo. He froze.

Did Hugo’s hair get longer? Did he get… curvier? Why was his chest bigger?

A sudden, sick realization washed over him. “Oh no.” He searched the room frantically for any kind of reflective surface when he remembered that the bedroom had a mirror. He made a mad dash for it, skidding to a stop. 

There in the mirror was a girl. No, not a girl. It was him. Varian. 

His hair was longer now, going to the middle of his back. His hips and waist were smaller, more defined, and he found that his clothes somehow morphed with his body. He decided not to question it. And then there was his chest… 

He didn’t want to think about it. He was too busy panicking. 

“Shit shit shit,” he repeated as he stared at himself. A potion must’ve done this. But which one? A lot of them had splashed onto him and Hugo.

Oh fuck. Hugo.

“Goggles?” Hugo. 

Or at least he thinks it’s Hugo. His voice was higher now. Varian winced as he thought about how his own voice must sound.

“In here,” he managed. He wondered how Hugo would react. Certainly not with glee, Hugo may flirt with girls but he certainly didn’t want to be one. 

Footsteps approached. “Is your voice squeakier? Did the potion make you reverse puberty?” Hugo entered the room and Varian was struck with both attraction and jealousy. Hugo was handsome as a boy and, as can be expected, beautiful as a girl. Like Varian, he was curvier but for some reason, he had slightly thicker arms and thighs. Hugo was built long and thin so this was mildly surprising. 

His chest was slightly bigger than Varian’s and his hair was longer, still up in its normal ponytail but with no undercut. He had the same freckles and round glasses and his clothes tailored themselves to fit his new body like Varian’s did. 

Hugo seemed shocked too. “What happened to you, Varian?” There was no hint of a follow up remark to the question, which Varian wasn’t used to but appreciated. 

“Well, I-I’m guessing that a potion turned us into girls.” He turned back to the mirror and pushed a dark lock of hair out of his eyes. He was going to have to do something about all this hair.

“Yeah, I can see that- wait. Us?” Hugo dashed to the mirror and pushed Varian out of the way. His jaw dropped. “Holy shit.”

Varian searched Hugo’s face. He expected Hugo to make a remark on how hot he was now or something like that. But all he could see was surprise and shock. “What the hell? How did this happen?” 

“Like I said, it was probably a potion that splashed us.” 

Hugo ran a hand through his pale hair. “We’d better find whatever did this to us so we can change back.” 

“Really? You don’t want to flaunt yourself or anything?”

“You know, I’d love to but I’m not sure Nuru would appreciate it if I did.” 

Oh no. He’d completely forgotten about Nuru and Yong. “We have to contact them so they can help us.”

Hugo twisted a piece of his bang experimentally and winced as it pulled. “No offense to either of them, but I’d rather have them not involved with this. I hate to think of all the teasing we’d have to suffer from Nuru.”

“Yes because we already deal with enough teasing from you,” Varian snarked but he could somewhat agree with Hugo. For a different reason. He didn’t want to get them involved in this mess that was completely his and Hugo’s fault. This was theirs to clean up. “Okay. After we reverse this, we’ll contact them and say we found nothing but we wanted to get supplies and we forgot to contact them.”

Hugo shrugged. “Good enough for me, Goggles.” He was already turning and leaving the room. Varian hurried after him. 

“Where are you going?”

“Back to that witchy room. We’ll find that bottle and see if there’s a way to reverse what that thing did to us.” 

In the room, the two carefully searched the mounds of broken glass and bottles for labels. Some were written in completely different languages. Varian saw one written in Saporian and had promptly ripped the label apart. 

“Find anything?” Varian asked after a few minutes. The more time passed, the more noticeable his voice change was to him. He hoped beyond reason that this wouldn’t become permanent after time. 

“Nothing.” Hugo kicked a piece of broken glass. “Bullshit. We’ll never find anything in this mess.”

Varian scanned the room and a lightbulb clicked. “Hugo. Potions weren’t the only thing in this room.”

He watched as Hugo brushed one of his bangs out of his eyes. “Care to drop the cryptics, Goggles?” 

“There are books on the ground. I’m sure there’s something in there about potions.”

Hugo noticeably brightened. “Hey, you’re right! Wow, Goggles, I’m impressed. You actually had a good idea.”

“Shut up and help me search through the books.” 

After that, they changed track and started searching through the books littered across the floor and on the desk. Like the labels, some of them were in different languages and Varian had to discard them. “I hope the cure for this isn’t written in a different language.”

“I swear if it is, I’m finding the witch who did this and slapping her.”

“What if she’s dead?”

“I’ll raise her from the dead to slap her.”

Varian shook his head but he felt himself smile. Sometimes Hugo’s pettiness was almost charming. Almost. 

He turned the page and shouted. “Here!”

Hugo was at his side in seconds. He leaned down to read over Varian’s shoulder, some of his long ponytail falling onto it. Varian could feel his face warming. He cleared his throat and began skimming the page. 

“Okay so it’s explaining the potion, how it’s made, blah blah blah…” 

“I vote we burn the page explaining how to make the potion.”

Varian agreed but he didn’t respond. He continued searching until he reached the end and then turned the page. “Ah here! Antidote.” The ingredients were a little sloppily written, as if it were written on the go or at the last minute. He held it up to his nose to read better. “Okay so uh, bad news.” 

“Don’t tell me it’s irreversible or going to become permanent at midnight or some shit like that.”

“No no, nothing like that, thank goodness. But all of these ingredients we’ll have to buy. At least I think so.”

There was a warm sensation on his shoulder and then Hugo was completely leaning over him to take the book from him. Varian’s face was red now. Hugo was attractive enough before and Varian thought he could handle it. But now he had two Hugos and they were both attractive and he felt like he might explode. 

The book was taken out of his hands. “I know what some of this stuff is. It’s all just fancy words for plants and herbs. We should find this in town.” He slipped it into his bag. “Come on, Goggles. There’s a village nearby.”

“Wait.” Hugo turned back, annoyed. “We need names.”

“We have names, Goggles.” 

“No, I mean girl names.” 

Hugo waved his hand flippantly. “We’ll make some up in town. Now hurry up. This body has back problems.”

Varian couldn’t help but snort and followed Hugo out of the cottage. They were careful not to go down the path they came from and instead took the long way down a heavily wooded path. Varian’s hair constantly got tangled in the branches and he was tempted to pull out a knife and chop it off. 

After laughing at him, Hugo pulled out a hair tie from his bag and handed it to him. “Here, take it.”

Varian stared at it. “I, err, don’t know how to do hair.”

“Seriously?” Hugo seemed genuinely surprised. “You don’t know how to do a ponytail?”

Varian shook his head. It was pathetic, he admitted it, but he just never had the need for putting his hair up. His bangs were long in the front but never got in the way of his sight. 

Hugo made a noise. “Turn around.”

“What?” 

“I’m doing your hair for you since you apparently can’t do anything yourself. Now turn around or next we’ll be hacking your hair off a tree branch.”

Varian grumped but he complied. “Take off your goggles too.” He did. He felt fingers rake through his hair before the weight of it was being hefted off his shoulders. A small strand of it slipped down his neck. “Whoops.” Gentle fingers slid against his neck as the strand was gathered back into the main ponytail.

Soon, hair high up, leaving his neck exposed to the wind, the hair tie was wrapped around and Hugo’s hands disappeared. “Thanks.” His voice sounded hoarse.

“Of course.” Hugo’s voice was hoarse too. Or at least lower. Varian turned and startled when he saw just how close they were. They were just a breath away. If Varian leaned in just a bit… 

Hugo leaned away, clearing his throat. “We should get going.”

Varian leaned away too, slightly disappointed. “Of course.” He put his goggles back on and winced. His head felt like it was being pulled. “Is it supposed to be this tight?”

“Yes because that’s how it holds itself in place. Stop complaining.” 

“Says you.” And there they were, back to the status quo. Varian didn’t miss it a bit. He wanted to have a conversation with Hugo, a real one that didn’t end in them fighting. He trailed behind Hugo as they continued down the path, easier this time as Varian’s hair remained far away from tree branches. 

The town wasn’t far away and it was filled with people. What Varian noticed first was the banners spread around the town with a moon emblem on them. It reminded him of Corona. There were vendors around every corner, kids running down the streets with toys and candy and people just milling about, clearly in high spirits. 

When they entered the town, a few people stared at them. Varian shrunk behind Hugo, who strutted in like he owned the place. “What are they staring at?” he whispered.

“Us, Goggles. We’re strangers and we’re girls that aren’t ugly. Of course we’d draw attention.” 

Varian hid further behind Hugo as a boy with brown hair and sharp hazel eyes stared at him from a vendor stand. “Let’s just grab the supplies and go.” 

“Hold up, Goggles. I want to see what’s up.” He marched over to a vendor, Varian following nervously. “What’s happening here? Is it somebody’s birthday?”  
The vendor grinned. “Fraid not. It’s the eclipse today. It’s a special moment for our village and it has been for generations. Every year on the eclipse, we throw a huge party and gather together to watch it.” He leaned over the table eagerly. “Would you two ladies like to join us?” 

Varian opened his mouth to come up with an excuse but Hugo interrupted. “We’d love to look around but we probably won’t be able to stick around for long.” 

This was odd. Hugo was being polite. Did someone hit him on the head when Varian wasn’t looking? Hugo then asked where the florist and herb shops were and after getting directions, the two left the stand. Varian grabbed Hugo’s sleeve. “We really can’t stay here.” 

Hugo shook Varian off. “Would you relax, Goggles? Seriously, you are no fun sometimes.”

Varian gasped. “I am plenty fun.” 

“Sure sure. Oh, here’s the herb store.” 

Inside, a woman a few years older than Varian smiled at them from behind the counter. “Hello, girls!” Varian would never get used to people calling him that. “What are you in for today?” 

Varian plastered on a smile. Talk normally, talk normally. “Hi, yes, we are here for uh herbs.” He wanted to smack himself. 

Hugo patted him on the back. “Sorry! She’s a little nervous around people.” He looked at Varian and his face screamed, “what the fuck, Varian.” His face burned. 

Luckily, the shopkeeper just laughed. “It’s fine. Hey, I get nervous around new people too. So I feel you.” She leaned over the counter. “My name’s Tessa. What’s yours?” She said it to both of them.  
Varian made a mistake answering first. “This is Helga.” Hugo’s face was pure murder. Before Hugo could make his name something stupid, he said quickly, “And I’m Varina. We’re just passing by. We’re uh in a bit of a hurry.”

“Are you at least staying for the eclipse? It’s only about an hour away.”

Varian bit his lip. Back in Corona, they had plenty of parties and festivals, none of which he attended. Or if he did attend them, he was far away from the action. At Rapunzel and Eugene’s wedding, he didn’t even go into the church. He stayed with the fireworks until the reception. Crowds and people weren’t his thing. It was one thing to attend a party with his dad. It was another to attend one alone. Or with Hugo.

Hugo nudged him and he looked up. “We’d love to stay. We just need to run a few errands first.”

“Speaking of which,” Varian interjected. He read off the list of stuff they needed, which Tessa got easily. As he reached to pull out the money, Tessa waved her hand.

“It’s on the house. As long as you promise to have fun today at the festival.” She winked at them.

Varian flushed while Hugo laughed. “Oh we will.” He winked back and slid the herbs into his bag. “Come on, we still have one more stop.”

They left the store and Varian immediately turned on Hugo. “What was that? Agreeing to stay here at the festival? I thought you were in a rush to reverse this.” He gestured to himself and Hugo. 

The other wouldn’t make eye contact with him. “We’ve been so busy all the time and you’ve been really tense lately. I thought this would help you relax a bit.” He was a bit more fidgety than normal, picking at his goggle straps.

There must be another reason. Hugo couldn’t care that much about Varian’s mental health. “Are you sure there isn’t another reason? This is very unlike you. You know, caring about my wellbeing.” Hugo shot him a glare and Varian raised his hands up in defense. “Hey, I’m not complaining. I am just saying.”

“Whatever. Hurry up so we can get those flowers.” 

“Aye aye captain.” 

“Wait.” Hugo grabbed Varian’s arm bringing him to a stop. His eyes were serious. “Helga? Really?”

Varian let out a surprised laugh. “Oh yeah, sorry. It was the first thing I could come up with.”

Hugo narrowed his eyes. “Sure Goggles. You’re lucky you had a name ready or I would’ve called you Vicky.”

“What’s wrong with the name Vicky? Or the name Helga? They’re perfectly good names.” 

“Not in my world.”

“Well that’s rude. I’m naming my kids Vicky and Helga just because you said that.”

“I wish your future kids good luck then.”

Varian nudged Hugo but not meanly. 

Inside the flower shop, an older man was busy watering some of the flowers in the back. He looked up as Varian and Hugo entered. “Good afternoon, girls!”

“I will never get used to that,” Varian said under his breath. Hugo nodded subtly in agreement.

“Good afternoon!” Varian said louder.

The old man set the watering can down and approached them. “What kind of flowers are you looking for today? Something for a lover? A family member? House decorations?”

“Unfortunately, no to all of those. We’re looking for ingredients,” Varian said. 

“Ah. A potion go aary?” He sounded like he was joking but there was a hint of seriousness in his tone.

Hugo and Varian chuckled. “You could say that,” Hugo said. 

The old man nodded in understanding. Hugo listed off the flowers and the old man went to gather them. Varian watched him as he walked. He had a bit of a limp, his left leg noticeably weaker. When he turned back, Varian spotted a scar going over one of his eyes. The left one, which looked cloudy. The curious part of him wondered what this man’s story was. The reasonable part of him said that it wasn’t his business.

He startled when Hugo tugged at his sleeve. “Come on.” He led Varian to the counter where the old man spread the flowers. Two of them were pale pink while the others were teal. They looked like normal flowers. But Varian knew better than to underestimate a flower. 

He snapped out of it as Hugo placed the coins on the counter. “Thank you,” he said and he slid the flowers into his bag.

“Of course, young man.” 

Varian froze. In the corner of his eye, he saw Hugo do the same. “How did you know?” he asked, voice low.

The old man tapped the spot under his left eye. “I see things.” He looked at Hugo meaningly. “A lot of things.”

What did that mean? Varian looked up at Hugo for clarification but Hugo refused to look back. “Good luck, you two. I hope it works,” the old man continued. 

“Thank you,” Varian said again. 

The old man bowed his hand. “And good luck to you,” he said to Hugo and only to Hugo.

Odd. Varian frowned. Hugo still wouldn’t look at him. “Best be off then. Enjoy the festival you two!” Varian thought he snuck another look at Hugo but he couldn’t be sure as Hugo immediately started pulling him away. 

Outside, they narrowly avoided two kids running down the street chasing each other. Varian stumbled into Hugo and, probably on instinct, Hugo wrapped his arms around him. They stood there, frozen, staring at each other, waiting for one of them to make the first move.

Varian moved away first, fiddling with his gloves. “Well, uh, should-should we make that antidote now?”

Hugo glanced around the town. “We did promise Tessa that we would enjoy the festival in exchange for the herbs.”

“Seriously?”

“What, you want to go back on your word, Goggles?” Hugo gasped and put a hand to his chest. “I am shocked. Truly I am. That’s as good as stealing and the goodie goodie that I know would never steal. That’s the worst thing a person could ever do. I am beyond-”

“Okay, okay!” Varian interrupted. “We’ll stay until the eclipse. Then we’ll leave. Happy?” 

Hugo grinned. “Ecstatic.” He grabbed Varian’s arm and dragged him into the town. 

After that, the day started to blur. 

Varian and Hugo visited every booth, Hugo flirting with half of the vendors there, the same half flirting back. Varian stood in the back and tried to ignore his burning jealousy. 

Eventually, they made their way to a bakery where they got cupcakes. They sat at a table outside to eat. “Not as good as Corona’s,” Varian said, “but they’re pretty good.”

“Corona’s cupcakes must be made by the gods themselves if this is just pretty good to you.” 

“They might be.” 

Hugo laughed and it sounded lovely. Varian grinned at him. Hugo actually grinned back.

“Oop you got something there,” Hugo said. 

“I swear if you say it’s just my face again, I’m going to scream.”  
“No really. You got something on your cheek.” Hugo reached his hand up and brushed his thumb over Varian’s cheek. It felt soft and smooth and Hugo cradled his face for a few moments, staring at him with a tenderness Varian had never seen on his face before. 

Hugo leaned in just a bit. Varian leaned in too.

Behind them a dog barked. They startled and turned. A kid was chasing a small dog down an alley, calling after her. “Honey! Honey!” 

Honey bolted passed them but Hugo’s bag caught around her neck and she pulled it with her. “Hey!” Hugo stood. “Ugh, you stay here. I’m going to strangle that stupid dog.”

“Please don’t.”

“No promises.” Hugo grinned and ran off. Varian watched him go, bringing a hand up to the cheek Hugo had just held. Did this mean what he thought it did? 

No part of him worried that Hugo only found interest in him because he looked like a girl now. Hugo had made it clear from the first mission they met on that he’d flirt with anything that moved. All parts of him were worried that that was all this was: Hugo being Hugo. 

He wasn’t sure he could handle it if it was just that. 

“Hey there.”

Varian startled and turned toward the voice. It was the boy he had seen earlier with the sharp eyes. He looked down at Varian like a hawk eyeing a mouse. Varian suddenly felt smaller. “Um, hello.” He fidgeted in his seat. “Sorry, do you need me to move?”

“No. I was wondering if the seat across from you was taken.”

Varian looked at the now vacant seat. “Not anymore no.” He was probably taking it for another table. 

“Excellent.” To Varian’s surprise, the boy sat down across from him. He leaned on the table, clearly trying to close the gap between them. Varian leaned back in his seat. “Name’s Hunter. And you?”

“Uh Varina.”

“Varina.” Varian hated the way Hunter said it. He felt himself cringe. “Beautiful name for a beautiful girl.”

He swore inwardly. He hated how he couldn’t see it coming. Hugo had flirted in front of him hundreds of times and yet he couldn’t see the signs. Great. “Has anyone told you that your eyes shine like the sea?”

“Not really no.” Varian searched around for an exit. Hugo still wasn’t back yet. 

“Really? Well they are.” There was a scratching noise. Hunter was scooting his chair closer to Varian. Varian scooted away. Hunter scooted closer. Varian was tempted just to book it but he was worried that he and Hugo wouldn’t be able to find each other when Hugo got his bag back. Suddenly, an arm was around his shoulders. “Are you busy today?” 

“A little-” 

“Because we should totally go dancing together.”

“I don’t dance.” 

“Don’t worry. I’ll lead you.” A finger came under his chin and turned his head towards Hunter. He cringed back. “I have excellent control,” he said, voice turning huskier.

Get out get out get out, Varian’s mind screamed at him. He tried to lean away but Hunter’s grip was like a steel vice. “Come on, Varina.”

“No, I’m a little tired.” 

“Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“I don’t-”

“Come on, I’ll show you.”

“I said-”

“Hey.”

The two looked up to see Hugo, bag in hand. His face was angry, eyes narrowed, fists clenched. “I don’t think she wants to dance.” His tone was clipped, verging on dangerous.

Hunter scoffed. “What would you know, girl?” He sneered at Hugo. “What, you jealous? Want to join us? We can have one more.”

“She said. No.” Hugo walked around the table and grabbed Varian’s arm, pulling him out of Hunter’s grip and up into a standing position. Hunter stood too. The two glared at each other. Varian sensed a storm brewing.  
“Come on. Let’s go,” Varian said quietly. Hugo locked eyes with him before his fists unclenched. He nodded. They both turned to go but Hunter grabbed Varian’s arm. 

Varian tried to tug it away. “Ow! Let go.”

“One dance.”

“No.” He yanked his arm away.

“You’re a fucking tease, you know that?” 

“Let’s go,” Varian repeated to Hugo. 

Hunter wasn’t finished though. “Yeah. Run away with your little girlfriend you coward. I didn’t think you were that desperate, Varina. Settling for someone like her. You can do so much better than some filthy-” He didn’t get another word out before Varian whipped back around and punched him in the nose. 

Hunter reeled back, clutching his bloody nose. “You little-” A hand came to rest on his shoulder. Behind him stood Tessa, face stern.

“Hunter Wildfox, were you causing trouble again?” 

He wilted under Tessa’s glare. “Yes ma’am.”

Tessa clicked her tongue. “I would say I’m disappointed but honestly that's what I expect from you. Go home and tell Mom what happened. Exactly what happened or you’ll wake up tomorrow with no hair. Again.”

Hunter grumbled and stormed away. Varian watched him go, holding his aching hand. It felt good to punch that creep but it hurt his hand too. A lot.

Tessa clutched her hands together. “I am so sorry about him. He promised that he would behave. Did he hurt you? Did he do anything to you?”

Varian shook his head. Hugo was watching him closely. “So he’s your brother?” he asked in disbelief. 

Tessa sighed. “Stepbrother. He’s been awful since before we met. I don’t know how to get it through his thick skull that what he does isn’t okay.” She laughed now. “But that wasn’t the first time he’d gotten punched. You’d think he’d learn.”

“Yeah you think so,” Hugo muttered. 

“I’m sorry. If you two want to leave now, I wouldn’t blame you.”

Varian looked at the sea of people gathered in the square. There was a band playing on the side and the people were eagerly chanting for a song. It reminded him so much of Corona that his chest hurt. “You know, maybe I would like to dance.”

Hugo groaned. “Want me to get the guy again?”

“Not with him. With you.” 

Hugo jolted in shock. “What?”

Tessa clapped her hands together. “Good idea! It’s an easy dance to learn too.”

Varian held his hand out to Hugo. “Do you want to dance?”

He noticed the slight hesitation in him before Hugo grabbed his hand. “Lead the way, Goggles.” 

The square was crowded with people, which kind of made Varian squirm but Hugo squeezed his hand. “Ready?”

Varian nodded. “As I’ll ever be.” 

They got into the same position as the other couples around them, Varian putting himself as the lead. They locked eyes for a split second as the music started up. 

Then they began to move. 

It was an easy dance. It was mostly twirling in and out, in and out, their bodies pressing against each other as they reunited time and time again. 

At one point, the lead had to lift their partner into a spin. Hugo looked like he was about to say something but Varian did the move with ease. He wasn’t lying when he said that he was able to operate and put together heavy machinery by himself. He built the rooster, a failed project of his, alone after Lance proved not to be helpful. 

Hugo looked appalled and just a bit impressed. Varian let out a loud laugh, not taking the time to be embarrassed after. He set Hugo down. “Wow, Goggles,” Hugo said. His voice was soft. “Color me impressed.”

Varian smiled giddily. “What did I say? I work heavy machinery.”

“I guess that’s 1 point for you. Now it’s 2-1.”  
“Don’t flatter yourself or anything though.”

Hugo rested his forehead against Varian’s, his bangs tickling against his skin. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” 

Varian grinned. “Shall we continue then?” 

Hugo pulled away. “Lead on.”

The eclipse was a mere 5 minutes away. 

Since the eclipse was lunar, no glasses were needed. So Varian and Hugo sat on a rooftop alone together side by side, waiting for the moon to block out the sun. 

“Who would’ve guessed that a stupid potion was the thing that brought us together, huh?” Varian said.

“Yeah. I’m almost not mad at that witch for making it.”

“Hey, it wasn’t her fault that we knocked over the shelf.”

“You’re right. Wasn’t it yours?”

Varian elbowed him. “Hey don’t place it all on me.” Hugo chuckled. A sudden memory came back to Varian. His name was called seconds before he was knocked unconscious. “You said my name.” 

Hugo frowned. “What?”  
“Right before we were knocked unconscious. You said my name.”

Hugo’s face turned from confused to embarrassed. “I didn’t.”

“You did! You said ‘Varian.’”

“I just blurted it out okay?” 

“You did?” 

“Yes! Well, maybe. I don’t know.” 

They sat together in an awkward silence. Another memory flitted back to Varian. “What was that old man talking about? You know, how he said he sees everything and then wished you good luck on something.”

Hugo fiddled with his fingers. “It was nothing.”

“Bullshit, Hugo. It was something.” 

Hugo looked over at Varian. Varian looked back. “The old man was watching me. In the store. He saw something and he instantly just knew something about me. He was wishing me luck on that.”

“And you say I’m cryptic.” 

Hugo laughed. “You are.”

Varian couldn’t help but laugh too. He looked up at the sky. 3 minutes maybe now. “Why have you been avoiding me?”

“What do you mean?” 

Varian looked back down at his boots. “Everytime I tried to talk to you, you’d ignore me or be rude to me until I left. It… it hurt, being rejected like that.” 

He could sense Hugo wincing. “Look, Goggles, it wasn’t anything personal, really.”

“Then what was it? Do you hate me that much?” Now he was facing Hugo again, all his anger and hurt coming out in spades. “What, am I not good enough for you? Am I too annoying? Too weird? Too talkative? Too quiet? I got more, do you want the full list?” 

“Woah, woah, Goggles, calm down it’s none of those.”

“What? You just don’t like me, do you? Why don’t you just say that, then? Do you not know how I feel at all? Do you not know how much I like you?” He stopped. “That wasn’t supposed to come out.”

Hugo jerked back. “You like me? Like as a friend?” 

“What do you think?” Varian asked bitterly. He couldn’t look at Hugo anymore. He just put his heart out there to him. Now he just had to wait to see if Hugo was going to tear it to bits or not.

There was a slight pause before Hugo asked tentatively, “And not just because I look like a girl now?”

Varian let out a loud snort. “I don’t care about that, Hugo. I care about you as a person.” 

“So do I,” Hugo said. “Varian, I was trying to stay away from you to try and ignore what I felt for you.”

“That’s not funny, Hugo.” 

“I’m not trying to be funny.” 

“What are you doing then?”

“I’m trying to confess to you, Varian.”

Varian startled. “What?” Was he dreaming?

Hugo took a deep breath in. Then out. “Varian, at first I did think you were annoying. I thought you were one of those kids that came from a small town and thought they could make it out in the world just because they knew how to read and do math decently.”

“That’s oddly specific.”

Hugo ignored that. “But then, I realized that you weren’t like that at all. You’re kind and brave and so genuinely good that it’s shocking. And being the opposite of all that, I thought it was better for us to not even talk to avoid any problems.”

“So you were just trying to avoid admitting you have feelings for me?” Varian concluded.

Hugo winced. “Pretty much yeah. Pathetic, right?” 

“Ehh, I’ve seen worse.” His face softened. “But you like me? Really?”

“Yes. When I saw that creep touching you, I wanted to rip him to shreds.”

“I punched him in the face.”

“I know and I’m proud of you.” 

Varian looked down, hiding his smile. “Thank you.”

On the streets below them, the people began to chant. “15 seconds! 14!” 

“Has it been 3 minutes already?” Varian mused. 

“Varian.”

A gentle hand came under his chin. He turned to see Hugo staring at him intently. “Hugo.” 

“12! 11!”

Hugo leaned in.

“10!”

Varian leaned in too.

“9!”

“Are you sure?” Hugo. 

“8!”  
“Sure as I ever could be.” Varian.

“7!”

Hugo pressed his forehead against Varian’s.

“6!”

“Varian.” 

“5!”

“Hugo.”

“4!”

“I really like you.”

“3!”

“Hugo.”

“2!”

“I really like you too.”

“1!”

As the sun was hidden by the moon, their lips met. Cheers erupted from the crowd below but Varian didn’t care. He wrapped his arms around Hugo’s neck and let himself get lost in his arms. 

“Is it ready?”

They were in the forest now, Varian mixing the last of the ingredients. Hugo was at his side, playing with Varian’s hair. The ponytail was pulled out while they were on the roof and he didn’t bother putting it back up even when the old man caught sight of them and stared knowingly at Hugo. 

“Yep!”

Hugo dropped Varian’s hair and sighed, running a hand through his own. “I admit, I’m gonna miss having this hair. It’s a lot smoother than my own.”

“Stop complaining. I like your hair.” Varian flushed.

“Oh do you? Tell me, what else about me do you like?”

“I’ll tell you after you take the antidote.” 

After some more reading, they found that the potion itself caused loss of consciousness so the person couldn’t feel the transformation. The potion also couldn’t be drunk or turned into a gas or it wouldn’t work. 

Varian had Hugo stay sitting as he put the potion into two bottles. “We’ll pour it on each other at the same time,” he said. He sat across from Hugo and handed him the potion. “Ready?”

Hugo grinned. “As I’ll ever be.”  
They lifted the bottles and poured it on the other’s head. The effects were instant and Varian was out the second the potion made contact with him.

He woke up before Hugo again and instantly checked that the potion worked by running his hands through his hair. His short hair. He let out a laugh of relief. 

“Did it work?” Hugo sat up. His Hugo. He couldn’t help but hug him, tight. Hugo made an “oof!” sound before he returned the hug briefly. “Good to see your face again, Goggles.”

“What happened to Varian?” He fake pouted. 

Hugo kissed Varian’s cheek. “I think he’s right in front of me. Unless there’s some other cute idiot that looks exactly like him.”

“You think I’m cute?”

Now Hugo flushed. “Don’t let it get to your head.” He stood and extended a hand to Varian. He took it and didn’t let go after he stood. 

“Let’s get back to the others,” Varian said. “It’s late.”

Hugo brushed a bit of Varian’s bang out of his eyes. “They can wait.” 

They kissed again and Varian let loose a smile before wrapping his arms around him. Above them, the moon gleamed.


End file.
